Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide using radio signals various types of content, such as voice, data, and video, to mobile devices. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple mobile devices by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), evolution data optimized (EV-DO), etc.
Generally, a network element of a wireless communication system may be a source of malicious activity or malicious attacks on mobile devices within the wireless communication system. Such malicious sources may attempt to overwhelm a mobile device with unsolicited packets (commonly referred to as “flooding”). These packets force the mobile device that is in an idle or dormant state to activate its radio resources and thus transition to a connected or active state. The mobile device then remains in the connected state until no further packets are received within a time window threshold of a dormancy timer, at which point the mobile device disconnects its radio resources and transitions back into the dormant or idle state. This process of transitioning between connectivity states by the mobile device as a result of packets received from the malicious source may occur frequently, and thus may drain the mobile device's battery (e.g., reduce battery life), as well as increase network congestion.
Previous attempts to handle malicious attacks from network entities of wireless communication systems have failed to provide a permanent solution. As an example, one previous attempt in CDMA systems uses a shortened dormancy timer to reduce the amount of time the mobile device remains in the connected state before transitioning back to the dormant state after receiving packets from a malicious network entity. As another example, another previous attempt in WCDMA systems similarly implements a forced dormancy function to achieve the same kind of results as those achieved by the approach used with CDMA systems.
These previous attempts may reduce the amount of time the mobile device remains in the connected state before transitioning back to the dormant state after receiving packets from a malicious network entity, but the malicious network entity can continue to send unsolicited packets to the mobile device, and thus continue to drain the mobile device's battery and cause increased network congestion. Additionally, some wireless communication systems such as LTE do not have a mobile device-initiated forced or shortened dormancy function, and thus may not have a way of reducing the amount of time the mobile device remains in the connected state before transitioning back to the dormant state after receiving packets from a malicious network entity. As such, there is a need in the art for simple and effective methods and systems for handling malicious attacks.